Posts Tagged ‘Plan B’

The Obama administration yesterday dropped its appeal of a judge’s order to follow the science and allow consumers full over the counter access to the emergency contraception known as Plan B. I never thought I’ve be invoking Kenny Rogers in a blog post, but somehow it now seems to fit: you gotta know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em.The Obama administration should have folded long ago; for reasons unknown, it chose to stay in the game. In the process, it earned a serious black eye. Read More

On Tuesday, District Court Judge Edward Korman spoke incredibly strongly against the Obama administration’s decision to appeal his order that would require the Food and Drug Administration to use science to determine whether over the counter access to emergency contraception is safe for women of all ages. Read More

A few weeks ago, I celebrated as a federal judge ordered the FDA to follow the medical evidence and make the emergency contraception known as “Plan B” available over the counter without restrictions. Under both President Obama and his predecessor, the decision had been thoroughly politicized. I thought that the judge’s ruling would provide the Obama administration with political cover. Surely they would respect the decision. Read More

Chalk up a win for science. Federal Judge Edward Korman today ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make “Plan B” emergency contraception available to women of all ages without a prescription, calling efforts to stop the FDA from doing so “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

A federal judge has accomplished what two administrations failed to do: make a decision about access to a drug based on medical evidence. It’s just common sense for the government to make drug approval and access decisions solely based on the best available science, not on hunches or political calculations. The decision brings a decade of politics trumping science to an end. Read More

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s decision to prevent the FDA from using the best available science in evaluating the emergency contraception drug Plan B. It was a setback in the Obama administration’s pledge to restore science to its rightful place and listen to scientists “even when it is inconvenient–especially when it is inconvenient.” In the interim, evidence has been mounting that the administration’s decision has placed unnecessary barriers to access to Plan B. It’s time for the administration to allow the FDA to revisit the decision. Read More

In December, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled scientists and ordered the FDA to refrain from approving “Plan B” emergency contraception for over-the-counter use. I’ve been back through what Secretary Sebelius has said about how science should inform FDA decisions, and found this in her testimony before the Senate during her confirmation hearing in 2009: